London Southend Airport and Environs Joint Area Action Plan Preferred Options

I would like to make some observations on the above proposal on behalf of the residents of Rochford North.

The airport is long established but is very confined because of its proximity to the towns of Southend and Rochford. Therefore expansion is likely to have a very detrimental impact on people living around the airport and under the flightpath.

I am very concerned about how any expansion will impact on residents and before planning permission is granted I would like to see a full environmental impact assessment produced and consulted on. The area is rural and the noise and pollution impact of an increased number of flights is likely to have an enhanced adverse affect on residents' enjoyment of their property and environment.

The proposal is somewhat misleading in that it suggests that increasing the length of the runway will reduce the noise impact on residents. This will probably be true for the more modern, quieter aircraft but given that there is a suggestion of an increase in the number of aircraft repair businesses around the airport then this will result in an increase in the older, louder, more polluting planes.

Residents would like to see a reduction in the number of aircraft that pollute and greater control on the noise caused by engine testing (usually carried out in the evening or at weekends). They would also want very strict controls on flying times - no flights after 9.00pm or before 8.00 am. Many residents have young children or are elderly and night flights disturb their sleeping patterns.

There also needs to be a number of baffles erected at the ends of the runway to prevent unnecesasry noise.

Residents have also expressed concern about traffic movements. If 2 million passengers use the airport, many of them will come by private car. The A127 has difficulty coping with the amount of traffic at the moment. It is unrealistic to think that they will all use public transport and we have seen no study of the ezxtra pressure that will inevitably be a by-product of airport expansion. Residents are also worried that some of the extra vehicles will use country lanes and Ashingdon Road to bypass the A127.

I would be very grateful if my comments form part of the consultation and residents' anxieties are fully addressed and answered.